U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday reiterated his concern over the growing number of attacks on schools and hospitals and threats to children in armed conflicts around the world, stating that the United Nations is considering targeted measures against those who commit such crimes. “Beyond naming and shaming, we have a further tool we can consider employing to safeguard schools and hospitals in conflict,” Ban said at a panel discussion organized by Radhika Coomaraswamy, his special representative for children and armed conflict. “The threat of targeted measures against repeat violators-especially non-state actors-is credible and effective,” the secretary-general said. The protection of schools and hospitals is central to U.N. work to protect children from those who seek to deny them education and health care, Ban said. “Let us resolve to keep up the pressure on all who violate the rights of children in conflict, whether it is in conscripting child soldiers or threatening schools and hospitals.”
